San Diego

The San Diego AIDS Project on Monday appointed Linell Fromm as its third executive director in three years.

Fromm brings 13 years of fund-raising experience and a master’s degree in public health from UC Berkeley to the job.

The new director said she wants to see “a happy marriage” between the project’s twin functions of providing support services to individuals and education to the community.

“I hope my involvement will be a long one,” she said. “My role is to enhance the quality of life for people with AIDS and ARC (AIDS-related complex) and to educate.”

Fromm replaces Jim Henry, who resigned after six months to pursue a private psychology practice, said Lance Clem, an AIDS Project spokesman.

He said both of Fromm’s predecessors had psychology-oriented backgrounds, but Fromm said she would not emphasize community education and fund-raising at the expense of the counseling role of the project.

She said she joined the project because “AIDS is the No. 1 health issue . . . and I want it eradicated.”

Fromm, who is studying personnel and industrial relations at San Diego State University, was a former coordinator of development services and community relations at the Salk Institute in La Jolla and former executive director of Planned Parenthood in Yolo County.

Clem said Fromm’s appointment represents “a solid step toward stability” for the AIDS Project. He added that state funding for the AIDS Project in 1986-87 will remain at about the level of this year’s grant, which is $235,000.

Fromm said the key to the project’s success is diversification. “We want to be attractive to everyone, not just one part of the community,” she said, adding that she will seek increased support by talking with people, holding benefits and using direct mailings.